Novel approach needed for UK’s sick and unemployed A shift to local initiatives may help more people back into work

I’ve written on the new @instituteforgovernment.org.uk report on employment support in today’s newsletter:

The Mandelson vetting blame-game is causing serious damage to ministerial-civil service relations | Institute for Government The sacking of Olly Robbins has been badly handled by Keir Starmer.

There's so much to write about everything that's happening with Mandelson vetting fight (and always happy to explain the process, others have done so v well on here). But the v. aggressive approach from no10 is over the weekend is just so damaging - so have tried to capture some of that

Our new IfG report explores what a better system of employment support for people out of work due to ill health could look like. DWP's centralised approach to date has some strengths, but has limited integration with other services and the innovation needed to better understand what works 🧵

a red dragon on a green and white flag ALT: a red dragon on a green and white flag

In a first for the IfG, @meganbryer.bsky.social and I have translated two pieces about the upcoming Welsh and Scottish elections into Cymraeg! 1/🧵

Surely then no other government would be able to do anything?

Enter Britain’s AI Security Institute, established by the Sunak gov’t & rebadged by the Starmer one

AISI successfully negotiated access to Mythos preview. So far as we know, it is the only foreign government body to have done so 9/

The Office for Value for Money has been a success | Institute for Government In its short lifetime the OfVM made valuable proposals for change.

It's also a sign of the plans set out by the Office for Value for Money's 'Reforming the spending control and accountability framework' being put in place - my colleague @drbenpaxton.bsky.social has written about the success of the OfVM (4/4)

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/offi...

It’s a significant move towards more autonomy and suggests bigger changes in the mix in GDS, given how interlinked spend controls, the service standard and tech code of practice are. It will be interesting to see how or if this affects other infrastructure in place since the start of GDS! (3/4)

The new ‘Digital Assurance Playbook’ removes digital and technology spend controls (but keeps HMT pipeline) & GDS’s involvement in business case or lower-level approvals (but remains for those above orgs’ delegated authority limits or determined as ‘novel, contentious or repercussive’). (2/4)

Digital Assurance Playbook

This looks like a big change to GDS spend controls – which have been in place since 2010! Spend controls were put in place to ensure that tech projects/programmes followed the technology code of practice & are also part of the service assessment process (1/4)

www.gov.uk/government/p...

The government’s consultation on digital ID marks a shift in tone and substance | Institute for Government Will the government’s digital ID plan recover from Keir Starmer’s hasty false start?

As @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social said at our event last year (something I’ve gone back to a lot!) - digital ID “exists in the imaginary” and to avoid repeating its original false start, it’s important the govt takes time to build a consensus

More detailed thoughts in my comment:

This mismatch between the expansive vision for digital ID and the potential technical options is one govt will need to watch out for - govt needs to keep its focus on explaining how digital ID is useful for the public

I’m sorry to hear this - I’m sending lots of good wishes to you and hope that things start improving / moving as you find out more!

Reform UK government would replace top civil servants with those ‘more likely to implement party’s priorities’ Exclusive: Senior party figures conclude outsiders or existing senior staff deemed more suitable should take over from current permanent secretaries

This would obviously be very bad for state capacity.
The binding constraint on civil servants getting stuff done is, very clearly, not their belief in the political project. Have tried to capture some of this - while obvious it still bears saying.

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/refo...

A line chart from the institute for Government showing how the size of the civil service has changed since 2009. It shrinks gradually to a minimum in 2016, but has been steadily increasing since then.

It's that time again... ONS Public Sector Employment dropped today, revealing a familiar pattern - the civil service just can't stop growing. An increase of 535 from Q3 2025 to Q4 2025 brings the total to 520,860 (FTE).

@instituteforgovernment.org.uk

How does the Foreign Office help British nationals in a crisis? | Institute for Government There are several ways the UK government steps in to help British nationals abroad.

What can the Foreign Office actually do when British nationals are caught up in a crisis overseas?

@hcdunlop.bsky.social and @howesdaniel.bsky.social break down the support the UK can - and can’t - provide, and why expectations often exceed reality.
www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/article/expl...

Only a quarter of civil servants think they save at least an hour a week using AI, but over 70% think AI will change how they do their current jobs. How do you square that? Hype? Bad tools? Poor training?

Great thread from @hcdunlop.bsky.social looking at the new AI questions in the people survey.

Interestingly, 70.9% of respondents overall feel as if it is likely or v likely AI will change how they do their current jobs in the next 5 years. Even the lowest scoring depts for time savings, DWP and HMRC, report high scores (72.1% and 71.5% respectively). This gap is something to watch... (5/5)

DHSC's low score (23.7%) might be the impact of low morale (see @stuarthoddinott.bsky.social's helpful thread on DHSC's morale), but without further information, we can't be sure. (4/5)

bsky.app/profile/stua...

A scatter plot chart from the Institute for Government of the proportion of civil servants in the operational delivery profession compared to civil servant numbers by department in 2025. In the chart, the biggest five departments are significantly further away from the cluster of other departments, which all have fewer than 20,000 civil servants. Though HMRC and MoD have proportionally fewer civil servants in operational delivery in their workforces than four other departments, the fact that their workforces are over 50,000 makes the profession much larger. HO, DWP and MoJ are all near the top of the chart, with MoJ both the biggest department in terms of overall workforce and operational delivery workforce (87%).

From central govt, the 5 big operational depts (DWP, HMRC, MoD, MoJ, HO) reporting the lowest scores (HO = 27.9%) might be explained by the nature of operational delivery roles. (3/5)

Overall, 26.2% of respondents thought they had saved 1 or more hours a week by using AI tools. DSIT has the highest score (57.2%), whereas DWP (21.8%) and HMRC (21.7%) have the lowest scores (closely followed by MoD and MoJ at 22.8% and 22.5% respectively). (2/5)

Civil Service People Survey: 2025 results The results of the 2025 People Survey, which looks at civil servants' attitudes to and experience of working in government departments, are provided in this page.

A bit late to the game, but some thoughts on the 2025 civil service people survey, which for the first time asked two qs about AI. There's little we can be sure about (it's new data!), but there are some interesting observations to keep an eye on... (1/5) www.gov.uk/government/p...

The government’s consultation on digital ID marks a shift in tone and substance | Institute for Government Will the government’s digital ID plan recover from Keir Starmer’s hasty false start?

The govt’s now-published digital ID consultation sets a different tone and vision for digital ID. I wrote some thoughts on what that means below 👇

www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

Citizens' assemblies | Institute for Government What are citizens' assemblies and how do they work?

Darren Jones is due to announce a citizens' assembly as part of the government's consultation on digital ID cards

What is a citizens' assembly and how have they been used before?

See our handy @instituteforgovernment.org.uk explainer ⬇️

The government still has questions to answer on digital IDs | Institute for Government What does the government need to do to move its digital ID plans forward?

Darren Jones is expected to announce the details of the government's consultation on digital ID cards.

But what key questions does the government need to answer to move its digital ID plans forward? @hcdunlop.bsky.social explored in Dec last year www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/gove...

Lots of v good points in this from @neildotobrien.bsky.social - civil service performance management is rubbish.

But important not to think that's unrecognised inside CS. It's the complaint you hear most often, at all seniorities - the problem is making fixing it a priority & sticking with it!

Worth saying that DHSC was one of the morale success stories last year - engagement went up by 5 ppt between 2023 and 2024

Establishing independent commissioners is much more than a tick-box exercise | Institute for Government Governments must recognise that independent commissioners need long-term commitment.

Establishing independent commissioners is much more than a tick-box exercise

Government failure to recognise the long-term commitment that comes with establishing independent commissioners makes it harder for commissioners to succeed www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/comment/esta...

Cabinet secretary | Institute for Government The cabinet secretary is the most senior civil service adviser to the prime minister and cabinet.

We do have an explainer which covers, among other things, the appointment process: www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/ca...

@jackworlidge.bsky.social, @hannahkeenan.bsky.social and I take a look at what’s facing Antonia Romeo in her new role 👇

Romeo was always the bold choice and is more likely than Wormald to drive the change the civil service needs.

But after recent briefing she's appointed under a bit of a cloud. Not knowing where that will go makes this feel risky - and Starmer *really* can't afford another appointment going south